THE BEST OF EEVERYTHING

Thank Heaven For Little Grills!

A taste of California ... in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

B

ack in 1988, people were some-
what skeptical about the place
being anything but a little fast-
food restaurant with very limited capabili-
ties.
After all, they said, Jaxon's small restau-
rant seated only 80 as did the Palace that
preceded it, and also featured a much-
worn variety of menu items with limited
dining selections.
But that original impression soon
passed with the opening of Beverly Hills
Grill, which celebrates its 21st anniversary
on March 16.
In those 21 years, owner Bill Roberts'
staff has served almost 3 million meals at
his restaurant on Southfield Road, north
of 13 Mile, Beverly Hills, as it continually
maintains its lofty standing as a premier
dining operation.
It might have all begun when Bill, a
past president of the Michigan Restaurant
Association, returned from a trip in 1987
to San Francisco ... He was there to check
out a restaurant called Mustard Grill, and
was so "enchanted by the light, airy neigh-
borhood spot with a California bistro
feel" that Bill returned to this area with an
ambition of having something like it ...
Beverly Hills Grill has, in many opinions,
beaten Mustard Grill by far where dining
excellence is concerned.
The thought of about 3 million people,
including local personalities and noted
celebrities appearing in town, coming
through its doors in 21 years is an amaz-
ing figure since Beverly Hills Grill has only
18 tables, with seating just about 72 to 80
... This astoundingly high customer count
can be attributed to many facets at BHG
... Not the least is the food preparations
of Executive Chef Patrick Roettele, who

has been with Bill 18 years ...
Highly featured are the continu-
al changing of about four or five
daily specials seven days a week,
including fish highlights like
swordfish, salmon, sea scallops,
tuna, mahi-mahi, barramundi,
red snapper, grouper, halibut,
etc., prepared in choice ways
with superb service by dedi-
cated employees and listed on a
wall-hanging chalkboard.
Beverly Hills Grill is open seven days
... Breakfast, Mon.-Fri., 7-11, Lunch,
11-4; Dinner Mon.-Thurs., 4-11, Friday-
Saturday 4-10; Sunday Brunch 8-4.
Its dinner favorites are many like the
Creole gulf shrimp in angel hair pasta, lit-
tle neck clams linguini, bestseller braised
short ribs, mustard herb-crusted rack of
lamb, chicken breast cacciatore, etc. ...
Most-wanted lunch yummies include
the huge seller jumbo lump crab cake
Benedict, house-made veal meatloaf, etc.
It is hard to imagine 21-year service
numbers like almost 155,000 pounds of
chicken, around 385,000 pounds of fish,
upwards of 280,000 pounds of meat,
110,000 pounds of crab, etc. ... These fig-
ures from such a small spot are mind-bog-
gling, but certainly succinctly tell a story
of lasting goodness.
WHEN THEY SHARE center stage
at the Townsend Hotel, Birmingham,
on March 25 for the first of Kronk Gym
Foundation's annual fundraisers, a
remembrance of once standing toe-to-
toe looking each other in the eye will no
doubt bring a memory moment to them
... It happened back in the early 1980s
at the world-famous Kronk Gym in the
basement of the Kronk Recreation Center

on McGraw and Junction in
Detroit's inner city.
Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum,
then 35, newly appointed
state boxing commissioner
and the youngest to hold the
position, laced up his shoes
for the first time since his
light heavyweight days in
the 1967 New York Golden
Gloves ... In the other corner
was this tall, skinny kid from
Detroit getting ready to fight just months
away against Pipino Cuevas for the World's
Welterweight Championship ... They
called him the "Hit Man:' or as his birth
certificate said, Thomas Hearns.
"Let's just spar, doc. Don't worry, I
won't hurt you," Stuart recalls Hearns
reassuring his older opponent ... "The
bell rang;' says Stuart, "and I entered the
loneliest three minutes in all of sports.
Hearns danced around and tried making
me look like a fool throwing punches at
Casper the Ghost. Then with 30 seconds
to go, I connected with my Brooklyn
famous stiff jab right smack on Hearns'
nose. It feels like that great shot when
you play the pinball machines and all the
lights being flashing.
"Almost instinctively, my mind went
into overdrive. Did I tick him off so
much that he will now unload the lethal
right hand, which would earn him
championships and millions? Through
my mouthpiece, I told him I was sorry.
There's no sorry in boxing:' laughs Dr.
Kirschenbaum.
"Well, now almost 30 years later,
Thomas and I will be at it again, and 'I
hope he has forgotten. I wouldn't want to
hurt him again!"

For info or tickets to the first Kronk Gym
Foundation fundraiser, call (248) 917-1793
or e-mail kronkgymfoundation.org .
GOOD WAITRESS DEPT. ... And
they've got some good ones at Buddy's
Pizza, Northwestern Hwy., Farmington
Hills ... Jessica Hertle is the kind of
server people like to have wait on them
... A lovely smiling personality to go with
efficiency and strict attention to customer
satisfaction.
CAN'T THINK OF anyone better quali-
fied than a former architect turned pastry
chef to build a specialty cake (birthday,
wedding, bar or bat mitzvah, etc.) ... Carrie
Crawford, pastry chef at Bacco Ristorante,
Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, is such a
gal, having earned her bachelor's degree in
architecture from University of Michigan
and spending four years with an architec-
tural firm in Ann Arbor ... On the culinary
side, Carrie attended Le Cordon Bleu in
Pittsburgh, earning a degree in patisserie
and baking, and prior to Bacco, was in the
pastry department at Pittsburgh's highly
esteemed Duquesne Club.
MAKING ROUNDS ... To Rochester
Chop House, Troy, for whitefish sausage
with fettuccine ... To Shangri-La, West
Bloomfield, for shrimp with sweet walnuts
and fresh broccoli.
CONGRATS ... To Eva Piasek on her
65th birthday ... To Eugene Friedman on
his 62nd birthday ... To Harry Lenchner
on his 94th birthday ... To Ann Lowy on
her 70th birthday ... To Robert Singer on
his 75th birthday ... To Frank Ellias on
his 66th birthday ... To Richard Bernstein
on his 75th birthday. LJ

Danny's e-mail address is
dannyraskingsbcglobaLnet.

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• CHICKEN BREAST STUFFED
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• LEAN ROAST BEEF BRISKET

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with complete Dinner
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Complete dinners includes Beef Chopped Liver, Roasted Potatoes Anna or Potatoes Kugel,
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3 100In's

March 5 '009

C5